Colchester: Fl�kt Woods lands �5.8m Instanbul tunnel deal

ESSEX fan maker Fl�kt Woods UK has secured a 7million euro (�5.8m) contract to supply equipment for a new tunnel connecting two continents.

The Colchester-based company is supplying giant axial and jet fans for eight ventilation shafts along the 76-kilometre (48-mile) metro-style Marmaray tunnel beneath the Istanbul Strait in Turkey, the meeting point of Europe and Asia.

The fans measure up to 2.8metres (more than nine feet) in diameter and have been specified to provide emergency ventilation in the worst case scenario of a fire on a freight train more than a kilometre long.

Phil Walker, tunnels and metro project management leader at Fl�kt Woods’, said: “We export half of what our Colchester factory produces.

“Our ability to diversify, sourcing business in both the building and infrastructure and industry markets, has helped us to find new business and this contract is a great example of this.”

Fl�kt Woods secured the contract with the help of specialist legal advice from Essex solicitors firm Birkett Long.

Peter Allen, a partner and construction law expert at Birkett Long who advised the company on terms and conditions for the deal, said: “It is always exciting to be involved in such a prestigious project and it is very satisfying to see a successful manufacturing business in Colchester exporting around the world.

“The negotiations became quite hectic as the deadline approached but we made it and the systems are now well on their way to being completed.”